Yes, Todd Akin Should Go

The Franklin Center’s Erik Telford and His Tweet About This Whole Debacle

Todd Akin, it’s almost unbelievable how fast your campaign went off the tracks. To say that there are legitimate forms of assault is beyond ludicrous. Then, to say if a pregnancy occurs, due to a legitimate rape, “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” What does that mean? And this wasn’t a gaffe. As Michelle Malkin aptly said “there’s no sugar-coating or whitewashing this…it was ignorant, garbled nonsense.”

Charles Jaco: “Okay, so if an abortion can be considered in the case of, say, tubal pregnancy or something like that, what about in the case of rape? Should it be legal or not?”

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.):“Well, you know, uh, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, ‘Well, how do you – how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question.’

“It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

“But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. You know, I think there should be some punishment but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Todd Akin

It’s rational for any conservative to abandon Todd Akin. He has greatly damaged our chances of having a Republican Congress this year and while I know the war on women is a farce; the left-wingers are going to have a field day with this. With the Democrat-Media Complex, they’ll flood this story for weeks, distract the Romney/Ryan campaign, and give Obama a comfortable buffer from his dismal economic record.

This whole situation was avoidable. Akin should have pivoted saying that the people of this state already know my position on abortion, but here’s the real focus of my campaign. I want to get out $16 trillion dollar national debt under control, reform our entitlement programs, restructure the tax system, and cut regulations to help small businesses thrive. Something on that front. Social issues aren’t at the heart of this campaign cycle. Yes, people are passionate about these issues and because of that–folks can go off half-cocked.

Yesterday, I had a little hope that Akin would do the responsible thing. Perusing through Ace of Spades–I saw that Richard Grennell and Erick Erickson indicated that Akin would drop out. Mark Levin also called for Akin’s exit from the race.

However, Mr. Akin defied us all, stayed in the race, and released a new fragrance ad today called forgiveness.

Could this be Akin’s Chuck Percy moment? Although Percy wasn’t slammed for making absurd comments about rape, he was in serious trouble in 1978 and released this ad pleading with the voters of Illinois to give him another term.

Politically, a lot of the analysis as to whether Akin should drop out of the race has focused on whether he could still recover from this horrendous statement and win. A more important question is what kind of senator Republicans would be getting if he could hang on and they could gain a majority in the Senate. Anybody capable of making a statement as simultaneously offensive and moronic as Akin’s is likely to make more such statements. That means, even if Akin wins, he’s likely to embarrass his party for six years and undermine the pro-life cause.

Missouri Republicans have other choices. Both Sarah Steelman andJohn Brunner led troubled Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill in polls taken during the GOP primary, and both were closer to the Tea Party than Akin (Steelman was endorsed by Sarah Palin). If Akin drops out of the race by tomorrow, the Missouri GOP could still pick another candidate. Akin has caused enough damage already. He should do the right thing and step aside and make room for somebody else while there’s still time.

Just a quick background update on the situation in the Missouri Senate race. While much of the press coverage has understandably focused on the statements by Republican leaders yesterday regarding Congressman Akin, I wanted to point out for your background that they have been joined by leading conservatives across the country who have called on Congressman Akin to step aside for the good of the party and the pro-life movement he cares so deeply about.

Below are just a few examples for your consideration:

· Radio/TV Host Sean Hannity urged Akin yesterday to reconsider running and reminded him that “elections are bigger than one person”

· Radio Host Mark Levin similarly urged Akin to step aside saying this race is far too important to risk losing to the Democrats.

· Columnist/Radio Host Dennis Prager penned a column for Townhall.com calling on his fellow pro-life leaders to join him in disavowing Akin’s remarks.

· Columnist Charles Krauthammer on Fox News last night called Akin “toxic” and said “he’s got to go”

· Radio Host Hugh Hewitt tweeted – “If Akin drops out and GOP wins Senate, he has career. If he stays in and GOP doesn’t win Senate, infamy and injury to prolife cause”

· Author Ann Coulter penned a column in Human Events calling on Akin to do the right thing and step aside for the good of the pro-life movement

· National Review editorial board called on Akin to step aside, writing in part, “Akin is a stalwart conservative and an honorable man, we regret to say that he inspires no such confidence”

· Wall Street Journal editorial board also called on Akin to step aside, writing in part, “Having uttered one of the more offensive and ill-informed comments in recent years, Mr. Akin could cost his party a seat it is favored to win this November and thus possible control of the Senate.”

· The Tea Party Express called on Akin to step aside saying “It is critical that we defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in November, but it will be too difficult to achieve that with Todd Akin as the conservative alternative.”

I agree with Gateway Pundit that this is brutal, but it’s necessary. We on the right police our own ranks and purge the un-serious, the insane, and the misbehaved, while the left fails miserably to keep their folks in line. It’s a sign of accountability. It’s the right thing that we blame Akin. It would be even better if he steps down. Todd, do the right thing.

About Matt Vespa

I'm a staunch Republican and a politics junkie who was recently the Executive Director for the Dauphin County Republican Committee in Harrisburg. Before that, I interned with the Republican Party of Pennsylvania in the summer of 2011 and Mary Pat Christie, First Lady of NJ, within the Office of the Governor of NJ in 2010. I was responsible for updating his personal contact list. My first political internship was with Tom Kean Jr's. U.S. Senate campaign in 2006.

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